american tragedy

Chapter 135 (1)
Chapter 324 (1)
When Clyde testified, he later recounted how his family moved from Quincy, Illinois (where his parents moved because they were doing work there) to Kansas City.There, from the age of 12 to 15, he tried to do things everywhere, and he was disgusted with the arrangement at home that required him to go to school and do religious affairs at the same time.

"Were you always leveling up when you were in public school?"

"No, sir, because we move a lot."

"What grade were you in when you were 12?"

"Well, I was supposed to be in seventh grade, but I was only in sixth grade, and that's why I hate it."

"How are your parents' church affairs doing?"

"Well, it's all right . . . but I've always hated going to the streets at night."

And it went on and on, from working in a small grocery store, selling soda pop, and selling newspapers, until he was a waiter at the Green Davidson Hotel.According to him, it was the best hotel in Kansas City.

"But now, Clyde," Jefferson went on, he was afraid that Mason, in order to disqualify Clyde as a witness when he questioned him, would break the casserole and reduce the positive content of what he was going to say now. Favorable influence, so he decided to strike first.Clearly, with his proper questioning, Clyde could have put all this clearly and softly; had Mason been allowed to ask, the matter might have been distorted.

"How long have you worked there?"

"A little over a year."

"Why did you leave?"

"Well, an accident."

"An accident of what nature?"

Clyde had been prepared for this and practiced it, so he told the details until the death of the little girl and his escape. Really, this was what Mason wanted to mention on purpose.When Mason heard all this, he just shook his head and exclaimed sarcastically, "Better let him ask." The "hole" of the most powerful cannon was plugged, and he went on:

"How old were you then? Clyde, did you tell?"

"Seventeen or eighteen years old."

"You mean," he continued, having asked every question he could think of about the matter, "that you didn't know at the time that since you didn't steal the car, you might be able to go back and explain everything. If you are clear, you can be released on parole and let your parents discipline you?"

"I protest!" Mason yelled. "There is no evidence that he can go to Kansas City and be released on parole to his parents."

"Agreed!" The judge was high above the ground, and slammed the gavel, "Please ask the defendant's lawyer to only talk about substantive issues."

"Protest," Belknap noted from his seat.

"No, sir. I don't know that," Clyde answered again.

"Anyway, was that why you changed your name to Tenat after your escape, as you told me?" Jefferson went on.

"Yes, sir."

"Besides, why did you take the name Tenate, Clyde?"

"It was the name of my little friend in Quincy."

"Are you a good boy?"

"Protest," Mason called from his seat, "inappropriate, unnecessary, irrelevant."

"Well, as much as you'd like the jury to think otherwise, he might have been with a good boy. In that sense, it matters," Jefferson sneered.

"Consent to dissent," thumped Judge Oberlize.

"However, did it occur to you at the time that he might object. Or did it occur to you that it would be unfair to him to use his name to cover a man who is at large?"

"No, sir, I thought there was more than one Tenut in the world."

Originally, this sentence could make people laugh, but the masses have already had deep resentment against Clyde, and it is impossible for this episode to achieve a relaxing effect in court.

"Listen now, Clyde," Jefferson continued, seeing that his attempts to calm the crowd had failed. "Do you love your mother? Or don't you?"

After objections, debates, and finally the question was allowed.

"Yes, sir, of course I love her," replied Clyde, but hesitating a little before saying so, which was noticed by all, first by the constriction of the throat and the heaving and heaving of the chest as he gasped.

"Yes, sir, I love it very much." He didn't dare to look at anyone at this moment.

"Is she always trying to love you that way?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, then, Clyde, after all these things, and even after such a terrible accident, it's been so long since you haven't sent her a letter, telling her that you are not a criminal in the eyes of others, and telling her not to worry. Because you're working and ready to reform?"

"I wrote a letter, but I didn't sign it."

"I see. Have you any other indication?"

"Yes, sir. I sent her some money, ten dollars once."

"But you never thought of going back?"

"No, sir. I'm afraid of being arrested when I go back."

"In other words," Jefferson bit the words very clearly, "you are a morally and spiritually cowardly man, exactly as my colleague Belknaps says."

"This interpretation of the defendant's testimony is intended to sway the jury, I protest!" Mason interrupted.

"The defendant's testimony actually needs no explanation, everyone understands it." Jefferson immediately retorted.

"The protest is valid!" the judge yelled. "Go on, go on."

"It seems to me, Clyde, that it is because you are a moral and spiritual coward. Of course, this does not mean that I want to blame you for what you are helpless yourself."

However, this was indeed too much, and the judge warned him that he must be more cautious in asking questions in the future.

"Then you went to Alton, Pioli, Bloomington, Mildge, Chicago, etc., hiding in a back street shack, washing dishes, selling soda, driving a car, changing your name to Tenut, and You could actually go back to Kansas City and continue your old job, right?" Jefferson continued.

"I protest! I protest!" Mason yelled. "There is no evidence here that he can go back and resume his old job."

"The protest works," Oberworth concluded.At this moment, Jefferson had in his pocket a letter from Francis Smiles, the head waiter at Green Davidson's after-dinner table while Clyde was there.The letter stated that he knew of no other disgrace to Clyde other than the accident involving the theft of the car.And said that he had always thought of Clyde as hardworking, honest, capable, tactful, and dutiful.He also said that after the accident happened, he knew that Clyde was involved.He was fine with that.If he had come back and explained the process properly, he could have resumed his work at that time, and so on.But now the letter is irrelevant.

Clyde then explained how, after his escape from the perilous situation in Kansas City, he wandered for two years, then got a job as a chauffeur in Chicago, and then as a waiter at the United Club.How, after getting his first job, he wrote to his mother, and later to his uncle at her word, and happened to meet him at the United Club, and he was invited to Lycurgus.Then, in order of priority, he explained how he worked, how he was promoted, how his cousin and the foreman taught him the factory rules, how he met Roberta, and then met Miss X, and so on.In the middle, however, how and why he wooed Roberta, and how and why he felt satisfied with her love, but the presence of Miss So-and-so and her irresistible How glamor had changed his entire perception of Roberta.And, though he still adored Roberta, the above made him think that he would never marry her again.

Jefferson, however, anxious to divert the attention of the jury from Clyde's inconsistency, which would have been difficult to bring up at once in the present case, interrupted hastily:

"Clyde! You did love Roberta Alden, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you must have known from the beginning that she was a very innocent, kind and pious girl, at least from her behavior?"

"Yes, sir, that's how I see her," replied Clyde, repeating what he had been taught.

"Well, then, to put it simply, can you explain to yourself and the jury how, why, where, and when these changes occurred so that we all—" Boldly, appropriately, with a grim glance at the audience, then at the jurors) "Pity. If you thought her so highly in the first place, how did you descend so quickly to the mess? Do you know that all men regard it as wrong, as do all women, that such relations outside of marriage are inexcusable and illegal?"

The boldness of this sentence and the stinging taste in it made the audience silent at first, and then slightly shocked in their hearts.Judges Mason and Oberworth both noticed the situation and frowned with great concern.What a shameless, young, cynical fellow! How dare he ask a question with sarcasm and seriousness, mentioning the idea that at least he wants to shake the foundations of society—the foundations of religion and morality! But, He stands here fearlessly like a lion now.Meanwhile, Clyde replied:

"Yes, sir, I think I know it, of course I do, but at first, and indeed at no time, I had no intention of seducing her. I love her."

"You love her?"

"Yes, sir."

"Love it very much?"

"Lovely."

"At that time, she also loved you very much?"

"Yes, sir, she does too."

"It was like this from the beginning?"

"Correct."

"She told you that?"

"Yes, sir."

"When she moved out of the Newton home, and you heard all the testimony in connection therewith, did you in any way, by any trick, or consensual means, induce her, or attempt to induce her to move out?"

"No, sir, I haven't. She wanted to move out of her own accord. She asked me to help her find a place."

"She wants you to help her find a place?"

"Yes, sir."

"why?"

"Since she doesn't know much about the local situation, she thought maybe I could tell her where to find a good room she could afford."

"Then you helped her find the room she moved to Gilpin?"

"No, sir, no. I never pointed her out to any house, she found it herself." (He remembered this answer.)

"But why didn't you help her?"

"Because I'm very busy, busy during the day and mostly at night. And I think she knows what kind of house she's looking for better than me."

"Did you yourself visit Gilpin's house before she moved there?"

"No, sir, I never have."

"Like, never insisted that her new abode had to be one you could sneak in and out of at night or by day without being noticed?"

"I never did. And besides, it's impossible for anyone to get away with it."

"Why can't it be done?"

"Because the door of her room is on the right side of the entrance and exit, anyone who goes in and out from here will meet people." This is another answer he remembered.

"But you slip in and out, too, don't you?"

"Well, yes, sir, that's right. The two of us decided from the beginning that no matter where we are, the fewer people we meet, the better."

"For that factory rule!"

"Yes, sir, for that factory rule."

Then he talked about the various disputes between him and Roberta due to the appearance of a certain lady in his life.

"Now, Clyde, we have to say a little about this Miss So-and-so, which, by agreement between the defendant and the prosecutor, is well known to you gentlemen of the jury, and we can only mention it occasionally, since A purely innocent person is involved here, and her real name is of no use anyway. However, a number of facts must be mentioned, although for the innocent living as for the virtuous dead, we try to The less mentioned the better. I'm sure Miss Alden would think so if she were alive today. But now, as to Miss --" he went on, turning his head to Clyde, "we both It's all agreed that you met in Lycurgos last November or December. That's correct, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir, that's right," Clyde replied sadly.

"And, do you love her very much right away?"

"Yes, sir, it is true."

"She's rich, isn't she?"

"Yes, sir."

"It's beautiful?"

"Everybody thinks she's beautiful," Jefferson said in court, not needing or expecting an answer from Clyde, but he was so well rehearsed that he replied: "Yes, sir. "

"Have you two, I mean you and Miss Alden, had the illicit relationship just mentioned when you first met Miss So-and-so?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, now, because of these circumstances, but, no, wait, there is something else I want to ask you first, and now let me see, when you first met this Miss So-and-so, you Still in love with Roberta Alden, don't you?"

"Yes, sir, I still love her."

"You haven't gotten tired of her, at least up to that point have you? Or have you?"

"No, I haven't, sir."

"Do you think her love and association with her are still as usual and please you as before?"

"Yes, sir, it is."

When Clyde said that, he was also recalling the past.In his opinion, what he just said was true.Before he met Sandra, he was actually happiest with Roberta.

"What were your plans with Miss Alden before you met this Miss -----? You must have thought of that then?"

"Well, not exactly." (He said, licking his lips very uncomfortably.) "You know, I never really planned to do anything, and I mean do anything to make her feel sorry. Of course she didn't either .In the beginning we just went everywhere. Maybe I was too lonely there. She hasn't found anyone yet, and neither have I, plus there are factory regulations, so I can't take her anywhere. Wait until we are in When we were together, the two of us ignored the factory regulations."

"You just go with it because nothing happened and you didn't expect anything to happen, did you?"

"Yes, sir. I'm right, that's it." Clyde was determined to make the answer that had been recited many times and was of great importance be seamless.

"However, you must have thought of something, one of you or both of you. You are 21, she is 23."

"Yes, sir. I think we have, and sometimes I have thought of something."

"What did you think of? Do you remember?"

(End of this chapter)